Steering wheel



Feb. 16 1926. 1,572,923

J. H. HAMMES STEERING' WHEEL 1 Filed Sept. 27, 122

INVENTOR l ti in, .u.

Patented Fete.

j 1,572,923 aren't Fries.

JOHN H. HAMMES, 031 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, AS$IGNO R T SEWELL CUSHION WHEEL COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, .A GORPQRATION OF DELAWARE.

WHEEL.

Application filed September 27, 1922 Serial No. 590,780.

To all who/22 it a'i'ltl/j/ comicm:

lie it known that I, Jonn i l. Enemies,-

a citizen of the United States, and residing at Detroit, county of lVa-yne, and State of hilichigan, have invented a new and Improved Steering ll heel, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to steering wheels for automobiles and the like, and has for its principal object the provision of a steering wheel having its constituent parts made of strips of wood veneer arranged and shaped to supply the ne essary strength to withstand all twisting and bending strains while retaining the grace and beauty of natural wood.

Another object of the invention is the arrangement of an all-wood steering wheel with the hub portion arranged in a different plane" from that of the rim portion.

A further object of the invention is the formation of a steering wheel without metal parts to cont-act the hand or glove with the attendant soiling. and discomfort of the ordinary steering wheels and without hidden bolts or. rivets likely to loosen and cause play between the rim and spider.

The above and other objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments of my invention, and wherein similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a. steering wheel made in accordance with my lDVGD' tion;

F 2 is asection therethrough taken sub stantially on the line 22 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of a slightly modified construction of the spider portion; Fig. -1- is a detail planview showing the central portion of the spider with the uppermost veneer strip removed, and

5 is a detail sectional view showing another modification of the spider portion.

Referring now to the drawings the numeral 5 designates the spider portion of a steering wheel and, as best shown in Fig. 2, is formed of a plurality of superimposed s rips 60f wood veneer, preferably arranged so mat the g a n t e sp in s ri and thickness.

Jisdisposed at an angle to the grain of the wood in the adjacent strips to strengthen the spider against warping and twisting strains. The veneer strips are preferably cut from plane sheets with a saw to the desired shape, then piled with water proof glue between adjacent surfaces of certain of the veneer strips which are then placed in a press while the glue is soft, whereby the s ral strips are bent into any desired fiirm and will permanently retain their curved shape after the glue is set. In practice I preferably lay the lowermost veneer strip upon the lower press member, then apply liquid glue, preferably of the vegetable variety, upon the upper surface of this strip and upon the surface of another strip which is then laid upon the lowermost strip with the grain of its wood angularly disposed relatively to. the grain of the lowermost strip. The upper face of this second strip is then coated with glue and the under side of another strip is coated and applied above the second strip with its grain angularly disposed relatively to the grain of the second strip, and so on until sufficient veneer strips have been superimposed to build up a spider of the desired strength The upper face of the uppermost'veneer strip of this spider is not coated with glue, but instead a separating sheet of paper or fabric is laid thereon and the lowermost strip of a second spider placed on the separating sheet, whereupon the necessary numberof veneer strips are imposed upon the lowermost strip of this second spider and their adjacent surfaces coated with glue as above described. In this way a number of spiders may be simultaneously pressed into the desired shape at a single operation of the press, remaining between the upper and lower press members until the glue has dried and the veneer strips have been permanently set in their curved form. The spiders are then re; moved from the press and each is arranged in a rim 7 in the following manner.

The rim 7 is preferably formed of upper and lower members 7 and 7 each of which may be formed of veneer strips or lamina- 'tions in any desired manner-"or may be formed of a single piece of wood. For purposesof illustration herein each rim member 7- and 7 is shown as of a single piece of wood, The gaging surfaces of the rim members 7 and 7 are grooved to receive the ends of the spokes of the spider portion 5, which spoke ends are preferably enlarged and rounded, substantially as shown in detted lines in Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 is shown the position of the spoke ends in the rim sec-' tions T and 7* when the wheel is assembled, each rim section being grooved to a depth substantially one-half the height of the spoke so that the rim sections will snugly fit over and around the spokes when the spoke ends are inserted in the grooves. I

preferably'set the spoke ends in the grooves of the lower rim section 7 after glue has been applied to the groove and the surfaces of the spoke ends,apply glue to the contacting surfaces of the upper and lower rim sections and then set the upper rim section in position, retaining the rim sections in firm engagement with each other by press or vise until the glue has permanently set. In this manner I secure a steering wheel made entirely of wood with the spoke ends of the spider-portion filling curved grooves in the rim portion so as to be firmly secured against relative play, all without the use of metal parts such as rivets, bolts and the like, ordinarily employed to secure the spider portion to the rim The hub portion of the spider may be drilled as desired to receive the metallic hub members 9 and 10 whereby the steering wheel is secured upon the steering post. As herein shown the upper hub member 9 is formed with a depending flange adapted'to fit the central aperture in the spider 5 and tholowerh'ub member 10"is secured to the upper hub member by means of bolts 11, whereby the central portion of the spider is firmly clamped between the upper and lower hub members.

In Figs. 2) and i- I have illustrated a slightly modified embodiment of the invention wherein the spider member is formed with two matched filler sections 5 and 5", each of which comprises a pair of diametri (tally opposed spokes an'd acentral hub portion. The central portions are sawed or otherwise cut through one-half of their height and are then arranged at right angles to each other with their cut portions contacting, whereby the central portions are of the same thickness as the spoke portions, substantially as shownin Fig. 3, In this en'ibodiment' IQ preferably glue the venecr strips of each filler member together. then under-cut the central portions of'ea'ch and then match them'in pairs with their adjacent surfaces coated with glue; then place the filler, members between-upper and lower veneer strips 12 and 13 which are formed with integral spokes and central portions. The upper and lower veneer strips are glued to the filler sections at the same time the matched sections of the filler strips are permanently set. In this way I can manufacture the spiders with a material decrease in the-loss of veneer stock, the filler members being cut from smaller sheets and only the upper and lower strips 12 and 13 requiring the use of the larger Veneer sheets. 'In Fig. 5 I have shown another embodiment of my invention wherein one of the above described filler strips, as 5, may be used for two of the spokes and the central portion of the spider without requiring the under-cutting operation above described, and the remaining spoke port-ions are made by inserting'side filler strips 14- between the upper and lower veneer strips 12 and 13, which filler strips abut at their inner edges against the sides of the central tiller 5. The filler strips 14 are comparatively short and may be cut from what would otherwise be waste veneer stock. In practice I preferably arrange the lower veneer strip 13 in a press, then lay thereon the central filler 5 with the contacting surfaces coated with glue, then apply the filler strips 14 on each side of the central strip 5 with their adjacent surfaces coated with glue, and finally apply the upper veneer strip 12 over both the central filler 5 and the side filler strips 147-. The press members are then clamped into position and the spider shaped at the same time that the glue becomes set.

lVhile it will be apparent that the illustrated embodiments of my invention here-in disclosed are well calculated to adequately fulfill the objects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptil'ile to variation, nioditication and change within the spirit and scope of the subjoined claim. I I

Having described my invention I claim A steering wheel for automobiles and the like having an all-wood spider comprising upper and lower continuous sheets of wood veneer, and filler members between composed of a plurality of strips of wood of lesser area shaped and fitted together to conform with the shape ofthe' outer veneer sheets, the outer sheets and filler strips being cemcnted to form a unitary structure and sin'niltaneously curved to bring the extremities of the spider intoaditlerent plane from the centralliub portion thereof.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.

I JOHN H. HAMMFM 

